Organ Sounds and Fun Facts

The tallest pipe is 32 feet tall, and made of Sugar Pine, the tallest pine trees in the world

The largest pipe creates a very low sound of 16 hertz, creating an earthquake sensation

In 1930, the cost of the custom-built Aeolian organ was $122,700, equivalent to $1.5 million today

Organs were the most complex machines invented before the Industrial Revolution

5,360 of the 10,010 pipes can be viewed through the special glass walled chambers in the Organ Museum behind Longwood’s Ballroom

The Aeolian Company was founded in 1878 in New York City. Aeolian’s customers read like a Who’s Who of America: Carnegie, Ford, Mellon, Rockefeller, Tiffany, Vanderbilt and especially, du Pont

Pierre du Pont purchased two organs from the Aeolian company, including the largest and most expensive for a residential setting

The thousands of individual parts of the Longwood Organ weigh a total of 55 tons all together

The console weighs 2,800 pounds

Counting all of the controls on the console, there are 244 keys and 492 controls for the hands, and 32 keys and 50 controls for the feet. This totals 818 electrical switches on the console that the organist commands!

Hear the amazing range of sounds of the Longwood Organ

Diapason chorus 16’ through V: The Diapason is pure organ tone, not imitating any orchestral sound.

Flutes 8–4–2-2/3–2–1-3/5–1-1/17: These flute stops create synthetic effects by duplicating the natural series of overtones.

The Full Swell: All the ensemble voices of the Swell organ combine to evoke the grand tone of the English Cathedral.